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It’s time to end season four but let’s talk about what’s next.
Season five, Feminine Soulcraft, begins in the Spring of 2025.
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I can’t leave this Latin question alone, can I? Our children are inheriting the richness of the Western tradition and the debt we owe to our Latin past is great. From history to theology, poetry to philosophy, we’re standing upon the shoulders of Latin writers. If all you’ve ever known of Latin instruction is terrified, bored students with a strict teacher, I think you’ll enjoy today. Get ready to catch the vision and answer the question: Does Latin form my children to move in the world in a better way?
I’m joined by Mrs. Angela Reed to discuss learning Latin through story; how children inhabit language, and the aliveness of Latin—even today.
Footnotes for this episode:
Athenaeum Amidst the Reeds | Angela’s Website
Angela’s Classes
The Charlotte Mason Latin Project | Angela’s Work
Angela’s Instagram
“Latin—the elegant tongue” | Charlotte Mason Poetry
Climbing Parnassus: A New Apologia for Greek and Latin, Simmons
Lingua Latina per se Illustrata
Cambridge Latin Course
Oxford Latin Course
Lars Romam Odit, Olimpi
D’Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths
Stories from the History of Rome, Mrs. Beesly
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One thing I rarely hear mentioned in the classical world is the need for re-reading great stories. Maybe it’s a fear of ruining our habit of attention or a symptom of our modern need to consume and move on, but we’ve missed something important when it comes to revisiting stories. So, let’s ask: How does re-reading change us as readers?
I’m joined by Laura E. Wolfe and Lisa Rose to discuss why it’s important we revisit stories, how revisiting makes us readers (instead of consumers), and what we can all learn from Charlotte Mason’s literary life.
Plus, we have our first ever baby guest.
Footnotes for this episode
Patterns for Life, Wolfe & Rose
Patterns for Life | Website
Patterns for Life | Substack
Patterns for Life | YouTube
Laura E. Wolfe
The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien
Harry Potter, Rowling
Diana Wynne Jones
Madeleine L’Engle
Christmas Day in the Morning, Buck
Sophie’s World, Gaarder
A Charlotte Mason Companion, Andreola
I and Thou, Buber
Wes Callihan’s Library Video
“The Thousand Good Books List”, Senior
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Could we have a season about story without touching on my favourite storyteller, the great Jack Lewis? We could not.
Many of us know Lewis as the great author of The Chronicles of Narnia, The Screwtape Letters, or Til We Have Faces. Some of us know him as the everyman theologian who gave us the wartime addresses and Mere Christianity. But there’s a lesser-known third part to Lewis: the medievalist. A self-proclaimed dinosaur, Lewis’ mind was of another time and this is the secret reason for the richness of his stories. So, we should all be wondering: What is the medieval mind and how did Lewis form one?
I’m joined by Dr. Jason Baxter to discuss the medieval mind of C.S. Lewis and how his “breathing the Middle Ages” might be exactly what we need to regain our footing in a world enchanted with truth, goodness, and beauty.
Footnotes for this episode
The Medieval Mind of C.S. Lewis, Jason Baxter
Dr. Baxter | Website
On Plato’s Timaeus, Calcidius
“Meditations in a Toolshed”, C.S. Lewis
“On Stories”, C.S. Lewis
“De Descriptione Temporum”, C.S. Lewis
The Abolition of Man, C.S. Lewis
The Divine Comedy, Dante
“On Fairy-Stories”, J.R.R. Tolkien
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It’s generally accepted that children need good stories. It’s not generally accepted that good stories are the most important thing read to children. We moderns think of fiction as a treat, a bonus, or an escape; it’s nice but certainly not something we have to require for school. This is why many new classical moms find themselves confused while looking over a book list of The Chronicles of Narnia, The Hobbit, and The Secret Garden for next term. If education is about the future, then we have a question: Shouldn’t I give my children real stories to prepare them for the real world?
I’m joined by Rachel Woodham to discuss how stories are a better preparation for Reality and why every mother-teacher should create her list of Reads of Requirement for her home.
Footnotes for this episode
Mudd and Sapphires | Substack
The Still Point | CiRCE Institute column
“Harry Potter, Read of Requirement”
“No Bottom: Delighting in Shakespeare with the Young”
Chance or the Dance?: A Critique of Modern Secularism, Thomas Howard
Til We Have Faces, C.S. Lewis
Brideshead Revisted, Evelyn Waugh
Everything Sad is Untrue, Daniel Nayeri
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We know it’s important to consider the ideas we take in because they form us deeply, but have you ever considered how what you act out forms you just as deeply? The practices we choose to make habits (or the ones we unintentionally form as habits) shape the story we tell ourselves about God, ourselves, and our lives. So, we should all be asking: What practices help me tell a true, good, and beautiful Story to myself?
I’m joined by Tsh Oxenreider to discuss how our practices should aim at our telos, how the historic Church has practiced this, and some of our favourite practices to bring into your home.
Footnotes for this episode
The Commonplace | Tsh’s Substack
A Drink with a Friend | Tsh’s Podcast
Tsh’s Website | Books, Pilgrimages, Resources
Tsh’s Rule of Life Course
*First Light and Eventide* | Gratitude journal
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Once upon a time. The words are an invitation into a world where virtue sparkles and vice is grotesque, and children love to inhabit such a place. But for the mom reading her first set of Grimm’s fairy tales, it’s a different story. They’re dark. There’s magic. Things get a little wild. If you’ve ever found yourself rewriting an old fairy tale on the fly because you weren’t sure it should be read aloud, you’re in good company. But when you’ve been told these are classical must-reads for young children, you have to ask: Why are fairy tales important?
I’m joined today by Dcn. Nicholas Kotar to discuss the tradition of and need for fairytales. If our hope, in classical education, is to conform our children’s souls to Reality, we need to teach them to see as things really are.
Footnotes for this episode
“Russian Orthodoxy, Fairy Tales, and Good Story Telling with Dcn. Nicholas Kotar” | Pints with Aquinas
Nicholas Kotar | Website
Nicholas Kotar | Patreon
In a Certain Kingdom: Fairy Tales of Old Russia
In a Certain Kingdom: Epic Heroes of Old Russia
Full book list
In a Certain Kingdom | Podcast
St. Basil’s Writers’ Workshop
Tending the Heart of Virtue, Vigen Guroian
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Who hasn’t looked out over a sea of young children staring blankly out of the window and wondered if they’re paying attention? Who hasn’t considered explaining the story or the vocabulary to ensure the children really get it? Perhaps we need to reconsider how young children move and understand in God’s world so we can answer today’s question: Do my little kids even understand this story?
I’m joined by Mrs. Amanda Faus and Mrs. Brooke Johnson to discuss understanding in the early years by bringing together philosophy and practical realities with a heavy dose of humor and personal story.
Plus, they turn the mic on me and tell me I’m wrong.
Did I mention I called in my real friends for this one?
Footnotes for this episode
The Wonder Years | Podcast
The Wonder Years | Substack (Includes Wonder Tales series!)
Ep 07 Stories | The Wonder Years
Ep 05 How Littles Learn | The Wonder Years with Alec Bianco
An Experiment in Criticism, C.S. Lewis
The Chronicles of Narnia, C.S. Lewis
Beauty in the Word, Stratford Caldecott
Book Girl, Sarah Clarkson
Risen Motherhood
Ep 07 | For King and Country!: The Mythic and Moral Imagination
Ep 08 | Tell Me A Story: An Interview with Emelie Thomas | Emelie’s Substack “Sacramental Stories”
Simply Convivial with Mystie Winkler
John Senior’s The Thousand Good Books List
Beatrix Potter
Paul Galdone Folk Tales
Everyman’s Aesop’s Fables
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Once you begin looking at curricula, it doesn’t take long to notice there’s a lot of overlap on the book lists. Homer. Plato. Plutarch. Dante. Milton. It can leave a mom wondering why we have to read these books in classical education. To get that answer, however, we have to ask a slightly different set of questions: Why do some stories last and why does that matter?
I’m joined today by Mr. Joshua Gibbs to discuss why loving stories that last—whether in book, music, or film—is a matter of the soul.
Footnotes for this episode
Gibbs Classical
Gibbs Classical: Classes
The Cedar Room | Josh’s column at the Circe Institute
Proverbial Podcast
Love What Lasts
How to Be Unlucky
Something They Will Not Forget
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While moms may be the ones buying the books, it’s the family that inhabits the worlds within them. The atmosphere, habits, and ideas of our home are shaped by the stories we read together which means we’re forming the minds, imaginations, and hearts of everyone involved. Whether you’ve just heard about living books or you’ve been reading the classics for years, you have to ask yourself: Are we building a family literary life of truth, goodness, and beauty?
I’m joined by Shay and Catherine Gregorie to discuss how we can inhabit stories with our children, speaking into existence worlds that show them God’s hand in the uncommon and common moments of our lives.
Footnotes for this episode
Wolfbane Books
The King of All Things, Shay & Catherine Gregorie
The Forgotten King, Kenneth Padgett & Shay Gregorie
The Story of God Our King, Kenneth Padgett & Shay Gregorie
The Story of God with Us, Kenneth Padgett & Shay Gregorie
The Chronicles of Narnia, C.S. Lewis
The Wingfeather Saga, Andrew Peterson
The Wilderking Series, Jonathan Rogers
The Year of Miss Agnes, Kirkpatrick Hill
The Penderwicks, Jeanne Birdsall
The Trumpet of the Swan, E.B. White
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As we discussed last season, there is a marked difference in how one moves in the classical world and the modern world. The classical world is a symphony; the modern, a machine. The classical world is harmonious; the modern is fragmented. The classicist is an encounter-er; the modern man, a manipulator.
If there is a single idea to explain these differences, I’d venture to say it’s recognition of Christ as the logos. To really dive into the power of story, we must first look to the unifying Principle who holds all things together. Then we have to ask: How does He give form to everything?
I’m joined by Mr. Andrew Kern to discuss what it means that Christ is the logos and how this reveals the grandeur of God in the world.
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Today’s episode is brought to you by Davenant Hall.
Davenant Hall, the educational wing of The Davenant Institute, is refounding the medieval university for the digital frontier. They’ve graciously offered The Commonplace listeners a discount for first-time auditors for this Trinity term. Use commonplacetrinity24 to receive $25 off your fee and to receive Reforming Classical Education after registration closes. Registration ends on March 29th, and you can learn more here.
Pst. I’ll see you fellow auditors in Dr. Hoskin’s Early Christian Worship class!
________Footnotes for this episode
CiRCE Institute
The CiRCE Guide to Reading, Kern and Lipinski
Classical Education, The Movement Sweeping America, Kern and Veith
The Chronicles of Narnia, Lewis
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You can find the full episode notes here (including my footnotes for this episode). You can leave the podcast a rating and review here. (I thank you!)
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Once upon a time, there were mothers with the power to build worlds with their words. Will you be one of them?
That’s the question I’m posing to you, dear listener, this season. But not without first answering some of your story questions.
Ps. Did you catch our season trailer? It’s magic.
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Today’s episode is brought to you by Davenant Hall.
Davenant Hall, the educational wing of The Davenant Institute, is refounding the medieval university for the digital frontier. They’ve graciously offered The Commonplace listeners a discount for first-time auditors for this Trinity term. Use commonplacetrinity24 to receive $25 off your fee and to receive Reforming Classical Education after registration closes. Registration ends on March 29th and you can learn more here.
Psst. I’ll see you fellow auditors in Dr. Hoskin’s Early Christian Worship class!
__________
You can find the full episode notes here: https://www.thecommonplacepodcast.com/podcast/ep04-00
You can leave the podcast a rating and review here. (I thank you!)
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It’s time to end season three but we’re not leaving the classical world beyond the wardrobe. We’re just going to go camping.
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I couldn’t start closing out this third season without answering the question in the back of everyone’s minds: Do I really need to teach my kids Latin and Greek?
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Scouting is a thing in a Mason education but I think it deserves its rightful place in classical education too. Using my favourite Charlotte-Mason-is-classical pegs, we’re going to show how scouting belongs in a classical education and how you can get started.
I’m joined by my own Withywindle Scoutmistress, Kriste Janczyk, and we hope you enjoy the conversation!
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For most people, classical education becomes synonymous with the liberal arts. The classical tradition, however, is larger than the liberal arts (great as they are) and, if you look closely, you’ll see your children need a few things before the liberal arts. What is this foundational work in the early years? Let’s talk about it.
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It’s just about that time when the classical Charlotte Mason gift guides will abound and while I like heirlooms carved by a dwarf in Narnia just as much as the next homeschool mom, I don’t know if that’s exactly the gift guide we need this year. Tune in for this bonus episode pulled straight from Common House as ‘tis the season (Can you believe it?), and we’ll get back to the liberal arts next time.
Announced links
WEBINAR | Awakening the Soul: Attention as a Way of Waking Up to the World
COURSE | Virtues and Vices
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Pursuing the good life means asking, over and over again, “Am I loving the right things at the right time and in the right way? “
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As you now know, there’s a new language beyond the classical wardrobe door. We recognize it well enough to know we love what’s being said but we find ourselves hardpressed to translate it to share what is meant. Never fear. I’m joined today by the wonderful Heidi White to learn more of what classical educators mean when they say, “Classical education nourishes the soul.”
It’s even better than it sounds.
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Heidi White, M.A., is a teacher, editor, podcaster, and author. She teaches Humanities at St. Hild School in Colorado Springs. She is the author of the forthcoming The Divided Soul: Reuniting Duty and Desire in Literature and Life. She is a contributing author, speaker, consultant, and Atrium instructor at the Circe Institute and a weekly contributor on fiction, poetry, and Shakespeare on the Close Reads Podcast Network. She serves on the Board of Directors of The Anselm Society as well the Academic Advisory Board for the Classical Learning Test. She writes fiction, poetry, and essays, and she speaks about literature, education, and the Christian imagination. She lives in Black Forest, Colorado with her husband and children.
Find her work:www.closereads.substack.com
www.circeinstitute.org/atrium
www.instagram.com/heidiwhitereads
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Reading good stories is a no-brainer for the mom coming through the classical wardrobe. We know, in our guts, this is something we ought to do for our children. But once we actually start reading stories, we can find ourselves with a lot of questions.
What’s a good story? What about magic? Won’t my kids be confused if I give them the Bible and myths? What do I do with Disney?!Well, today’s episode is for you. I’m joined by my friend, Emelie Thomas, to discuss all things story. Emelie is kind of famous in Common House for her wise words on story and her ability to name a picture book for any occasion. I know you’ll love listening to her.
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